Page 81 of Alien Peacock

Peroena comes over, looking so stunning I’m sure there must be a law against it. She looks down on me. “So you caught Arelion. I have to warn you that many women on Eo are not going to love that.”

“I thought so,” I tell her. “I’m trying to think of a way I won’t have to go to your planet, but I want to be with him. And hehasto go.”

“He does, and so do you. There will be some intrigue, but there’s no need for you to get caught up in that. Just stay with him. He has eyes for nobody but you.”

“He will be busy in the time ahead,” I ponder. “Setting things right on Eo.”

“Most things were set right the moment we realized that Buroteo’s army was nowhere to be seen,” Peroena says. “The planet is all Arelion’s now. It’s the first time I’ve seen the entire planet rapt in happiness. The celebrations are still going on. You’ll see it for yourself. It will be intense. But you don’t have to worry. When Arelion had to choose between his whole planet and his love, he choseyou. Not a bad foundation for a marriage!”

I spontaneously embrace the Eoan general. “Thank you,” I sniffle. “You’ve been a good friend to him and to me for as long as I’ve known you.”

Arelion saunters over. “Two warrior women talking and plotting. I should probably break it up.”

Peroena laughs. “Oh, we haven’t started to plot, Supremacy. But don’t worry; we will. Maeve, you will be a great success on Eo. I think you both chose wisely.”

We all sit down for a meal of the fanciest foods we can find in the military crates that are left. It’s not exactly gourmet fare, but I don’t care at all. I’m married to Arelion. That’s all that matters right now.

I adjust the ribbon that Tara tied around my upper arm, stating that a bride has to wearsomethingthat’s white. There was no time to find a bouquet of flowers, but I’m okay with this event being less ostentatious than what I expect from most of the things we will experience on Eo.

Arelion glances down on me. “How soon can we leave this party?”

“I don’t think anyone’s going to hold us back if we try,” I tell him. “Everyone knows that newly married couples want a lot of time alone.”

“Great.” He immediately stands up. “Dear friends! Thank you for celebrating our wedding with Maeve and me. We’re both very grateful and honored to see you all. You all look wonderful, too. Not as wonderful as the bride, but that’s not possible anyway. But still, our job here is done. We’re married, and that’s honestly all you can expect from us. We, on the other hand, expect you all to enjoy yourselves for many hours still. Maeve and I have important marriage things to attend to, very mysterious and complicated duties that those of you who are unmarried will have no clue about. We will see you all tomorrow for the return to Eo!”

The guests applaud and cheer. Arelion scoops me into his arms and lifts me over his head like a trophy, carrying me through the room and only lowering me so we can get through the door.

Out in the tunnel, he still carries me, and I’m fine with that.

“What a nice wedding we had,” I muse as he carries me towards the gallery section. “Guests and everything.”

“Too small a celebration for that vital event,” Arelion disagrees. “I wanted more colors, more party, more sounds. More lights! But the important parts were perfect. And I’d happily get married in a cold, dark cave infested with venomousterepitsif it meant getting married toyou.”

The sincerity in his voice makes me well up. I was never much of a crybaby before, but I guess he thawed me out. “I know, my love. And I would, too.”

“You’d probably prefer it,” he chuckles as we enter the huge spiraled art gallery. “We’re different in some ways, you and I. But they say that’s the best way. Now hold on to me.”

I cling to his front while he unfolds his huge, colorful wings and beats them powerfully. My stomach goes light as we soar into the air in the middle of the giant spiral.

He takes us up, then back down in a gentle glide. “I’ve flown a lot in here since I found it. It’s usually not possible to fly inside a spaceship or a station. The only places I’ve flown for real are here and on Eo.”

“And inside Maranar Labs,” I remind him, loosening my grip on him because I know he’ll never let me fall. “But there, you had to so we wouldn’t fall to our deaths.”

“Flying because I have to is different from flying because I love it,” he replies. “You don’t know what you’re missing, being born without wings.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” I tell him. “I wonder if our offspring will have wings.”

“Oh, they will. Eoan genes are very strong. They will have big, beautiful wings and soar likethis.” He beats his wings, and we rise fast to the top of the gallery.

“I’m fine not having wings,” I assure him, “as long as you will take me flying like this sometimes.”

“Just let me know,” he says as he dives straight down, folding his wings until we’re so close to the ground I squeal.

“I will,” I assure him, my voice shaky. “Um... it might be a while until next time I ask.”

He aims for the spiraled walkway high up and takes us there with four beats of his wings. “That’s fine. It shouldn’t be so often that it loses its thrill.”

He sets us down beside a sculpture that looks like a heap of geometric figures, each the size of a microwave oven. There are cubes and balls and pyramids and octahedrons and cones and many more. Each has a different color, and it all looks like some kind of huge teaching aid for a geometry class.

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